Accepting donations for naming rights on bridges on Cheese Country Trail
The Tri-County Trail Commission met on July 23 in Darlington and approved accepting donations towards naming rights on the bridges on the Cheese Country Trail.
A couple weeks ago someone reached out to Green County ATV Club president Doug Mayer and asked if they were to pay for the repairs for one of the bridges on the Cheese Country Trail, could they have their name on the bridge.
“If someone is looking to put money in a community, it is hard to say no,” District #6 Supervisor Jeff Berget mentioned.
The Tri-County Trail Commission recently issued an urgent call for support as several bridges along the Cheese Country Trial failed their inspection and forced those portions of the trail to be closed, causing the recreational trails to pivot to road detours around those bridges. The Cheese Country Trail stretches from Monroe to Mineral Point over 47.5 miles of multi-use trail on an inactive railroad bed. Majority of the 73 bridges date back to the early 1900s or older. The commission has asked for a $5 million grant from the DNR to help over the cost of those bridges that were condemned due to structural concerns, #32, #40 and #47, but are unsure if they will be getting that as it is a very competitive grant.
Mayer stated that if someone wants to pay for the bridge he would be willing to put signs on the side of the bridge with that person’s name on it. There was concern with having the trail being cluttered with signs but felt that if someone wants to drop that much money on the repairs the least the commission can do is let them have a sign. Max Blackbourn, Trails Coordinator, stated that bridge #40 could cost around $3 million to repair.
Blackbourn stated that Iowa County does have a naming policy when it comes to donations. He was unaware if Lafayette or Green had one.
More discussion took place about how the commission accept the donations for naming rights. Larry Kranig, District #10 Supervisor from Green County, covering Cadiz Township, Village of Browntown, and Town of Jordan, first made a motion to establish a policy where the commission will give naming rights on bridges to those who donate 50 percent of total amount needed with a maximum of two individuals or groups names being on the sign.
Berget didn’t feel the commission should get too technical at this point but just approve that they will accept any donations at this time for naming rights. He just wanted to see if they could solicit any sponsors for donations first before pigeon-holing it down to a specific amount of money or persons.
Berget then made a motion that the commission is willing to accept any offers of donations for naming rights for repair and replacement of a bridge. Kranig seconded the motion. The motion passed.
Part-time trail coordinator
Blackbourn asked the commission to make a motion to send to the Human Resources committee to create a Parttime Trail Coordinator. The position would be paid by shared funding from all three counties.
The coordinator used to be run out of the Green County clerk’s office before the funds were moved to Lafayette County. The position was then held by Tom Jean, who was the previous Highway Commissioner for Lafayette County. Blackbourn’s reasoning by only asking the Lafayette County HR committee about creating the position was because the funds were now in Lafayette County.
His hope was this position could help get more grants other than just getting grants from the DNR. He stated that he doesn’t have enough time to get outside grants. He stated that once the position is created, it will come back to the committee to get the logistics of it completed. The person would be shared equally between all three counties. A motion and second were made to send the position onto the HR committee and it passed.
Other business
The commission also approved: – total expenses from bridge #35 came in under budget at $34,991.28. Lafayette County had budgeted $40,000.
– terminating a lease agreement with Becky Burbach (f/k/a Becky Butson) for the Lane Lumber Building rail/trail corridor in the City of Darlington; accepting a lease agreement with Bruce Monson. The Lane Lumber Building was recently purchased by Monson.
– allowing railroad tracks to be painted on the blacktop near the Darlington Train Depot.